


The Devils That You Don't Know

by pianogf



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), F/F, Friendship, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Trans Character, ft kaede hopeless lesbian akamatsu, kokichi shuichi n kork are all trans baybee, this is my first work on ao3 time to die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-06-10 18:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15297549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pianogf/pseuds/pianogf
Summary: Kaede Akamatsu hesitantly accepts an invitation to sleepover local oddball magician Himiko Yumeno's house, and gets far more than she bargained for when she's lead to the girl's basement and told she's participating in a demonic ritual, which Himiko just so happens to NOT mention when initially inviting her. Now, with a demon bound to her that can't return to hell until she kills someone, Kaede is left in a difficult situation she'll only be able to navigate out of with the support of her friends and some consultation with classmates that know more about this stuff than she does.





	1. Greed Part I

**Author's Note:**

> yo there!!!! thank u for reading this, this is my first work on ao3 and my first work in a LONG time in general. its a concept im fond of and i hope that i can make the experience of reading it unique and enjoyable for everyone interested! don't forget to kudos + comment if you enjoy it so i know to continue writing it!
> 
> things to know:  
> certain kids of the v3 class are missing bcuz theyre angels/demons in this universe. u'll figure out who as things progress ;)

The night had not gone even slightly as Kaede was expecting it to.

  
The pianist had made some weird friends, but that was to be expected when attending such a school as Hope’s Peak, an academy purposed specifically for gathering and teaching a multitude of students with varying talents. It was only natural for the attendants to have equally as varied quirks to their personalities. Kaede didn’t mind it! In fact, it was pretty exciting to be around so many not-so normal people. Or, it was until that lack of normalcy brought on trouble the likes of which one was not equipped to commonly encounter in their everyday life.

  
Himiko was among those she felt were a little out there compared to other classmates of hers. Kaede didn’t consider herself and Himiko to be extremely close or anything, but they were still good friends who talked and hung around one another. Again, being that they weren’t close, it did throw her off quite a bit when the self-proclaimed mage insisted that she should come sleepover her house that fateful night. It came in the form of some rushed texts to her phone just after the school day came to a close and the blonde was headed back to her dorm room to turn in and perhaps work on her playing.

  
**_‘kaede hey r u free tonite text back asap’_ **

  
With a curious quip of her brow, she scrutinized the message momentarily, as if something more telling would result of observing a text box. She replied back rather quickly, though, feeling obligated to by her classmate’s words.

  
_‘i am! whats up, himiko?’_

  
**_‘come 2 my house_ **

  
**_pls_ **

  
**_i wanna have a slumber party_ **

  
**_itll be fun i promise’_ **

  
_‘a slumber party? wait really??? thats so different from what id expect of someone like you, youre not really the party type as far as i know!’_

  
**_‘ur right im not but angie says i gotta put myself out there more and ur nice so like_ **

  
**_if u can_ **

  
**_u should come’_ **

  
She hesitated. Should she really-? Of course she should! What was the harm in hanging around Himiko? She’d regret that decision later on, certainly, but in the moment, she deemed the magician relatively harmless.

  
_‘count me in! :) when should i come?`_

  
**_`8`_ **

  
And, that’d been the last she’d heard of the other until the time of reckoning was upon her. Nothing special transpired between the last message and the meeting time. Kaede went about her normal after school activities; back-and-forths with her closest friend Shuichi Saihara and intervals of Debussy and Mozart played by passionate fingers passing on the time.

  
When the time had come for her to go to Himiko’s, she took about a half hour beforehand to prepare herself. Casual clothes; a long-sleeved white button up, a skirt themed after a keyboard, and a multitude of colorful bands rising up her wrist and around the start of her forearm. Of course, her signature music note clips lined her hair, and her look did not differ greatly from that of her school outfit. It was just a tiny bit more laid back, and she thought that was a good look for her.

  
Kaede gave herself a once-over, shooting a bright grin to herself for an extra little boost of confidence before she grabbed ahold of her overnight bag and went on her way. She couldn’t drive yet, but her best friend had come to her rescue by being slightly older, slightly more experienced, and just a teeny bit more well-off that he was in possession of a car AND a license.

  
Himiko lived off campus in a small home, roomed with another classmate of there’s, Angie Yonaga. Like Himiko, Angie was a little bit of an oddball; highly religious, but she meant very well and was a pleasure to talk to, as well as an insanely talented artist. Despite the stark difference in their personal beliefs, the pair were thick as thieves.

  
Kaede had mused to Shuichi before about maybe getting a place together off campus, influenced greatly by the magician and artist’s set-up and fantasizing about how neat it would be to live somewhere all to themselves. The conversation was short-lived, though, and the tone of insincerity in it combined with the fact that it wasn’t brought up other than that one singular time made it pretty clear that the detective didn’t think she was serious. Either that, or they were both too scared to bring up the possibility to each other again. Kaede didn’t care too much; she got to see him almost every day and they shared the same dorm building, which satisfied her enough.

  
The house wasn’t very far from Hope’s Peak, but it wasn’t within a safe walking distance either. It made for a short, 5-minute car ride, characterized by the pair’s shared disbelief but sentimental proudness over Himiko’s resolution to have friends over. He left her off on the promise he’d come by to get her early tomorrow, and that if she needed to leave any earlier than the time he proposed that he was only a text away.

  
Kaede has noticed he was skittish over leaving her. His behavior reminded her of what she imagined an older brother would be like, or, weirder, a dad. Either way, she was wholly grateful to have someone so caring of her within reach, but made it clear to him that she didn’t want him to worry too much about her, that she’d be just fine and would, for sure, let him know if anything went awry.

  
And, so she was left to her own devices, which happened to be entering the house of Himiko Yumeno and Angie Yonaga, which she’d actually never seen inside of before. The door was unlocked; she recalled receiving a text in the car from Himiko that it was open and that she could just come right in.

  
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but what it appeared as was nicer than anything she could’ve thought up. It was small, affordable between the two living there. Filled with warm colors, to her left was what looked like an artist’s studio, cluttered with both finished and work-in-progress pieces of multiple mediums and none other than the ultimate artist herself standing among her dazzling creations. Loud music emitted from a small yellow radio among the disarranged materials. Directly before her, a fairly bland door, and to her right, what was likely the living room.

  
“Ah, Kaede!” It seemed that Angie noticed her immediately, face lighting up with a radiant cheeriness that was almost always present with her wherever she was. She switched off the radio and carefully placed down her tools, reaching for a cloth to wipe her hands with before she approached the pianist and encircled her in a friendly hug. “My goodness, so Himiko really  _did_ invite someone new! How divine!!”

  
“Angie!!” Chirped back Kaede, returning the hug gladly. Angie was a touchy person, and Kaede didn’t mind that at all! In fact, it was welcoming. “Yeah! I was just talking with Shuichi about how I didn’t think it was Himiko texting me at first, haha. She’s not really the most social person…”

  
“Right you are!” Giggled the artist, pulling away from the hug but not before patting Kaede’s shoulders. “Thank you so much for coming! This will be good for her, more than you know!”

  
Kaede smiled wider at this. She was always one for helping people, so to hear that just bringing herself to their house was going to be a good influence, she was glad! She’d do her very best to make a good example of herself and aid the magician in opening her heart to more friends.

  
“Where is she, anyway?”

  
“Ah! Downstairs! Just a moment…” She spun swiftly on her heel and rapped her knuckles against that center door ahead loudly, calling out. _“HIMIKO! YOUR GUEST HAS ARRIVED!”_

  
A moment of silence was left between them before a faint, distant yelp sounded, presumably from beyond the door. Next came the thumping of more than one set of feet ascending stairs, the handle of the door twisting before it was pushed open, but only just enough for Himiko to peek her head out. She looked moderately tired, moreso than usual. But the second her eyes settled on Kaede, gratefulness overwrote her exhaustion.

  
“You came…” The short girl expressed, a meager smile gracing her lips.

  
“Well, I wasn’t just going to ditch without saying anything!” Kaede replied, stepping toward the door that Himiko opened up wider to let Kaede in. Just as she was about to come forth, she paused, seeing who that second pair of footsteps from earlier belonged to.

  
It was an upperclassmen of there’s, the Ultimate Breeder, Gundham Tanaka. Her brows knit together. Yes, the pianist was aware that they were good friends and got along well, however, Himiko never said a word about him being apart of the sleepover...Not that Kaede minded any! The more the merrier, she supposed, but some indication beforehand would’ve saved her the scare of seeing the tall boy’s mysterious, vaguely cryptic figure behind Himiko’s on the staircase.

  
“Oh, G-gundham! Hi!” She greeted, not able to help the uncertainty in her voice. It was either awkward speaking or awkward silence, and she much preferred the former.

  
“Akamatsu! It is a pleasure to have you!” The breeder greeted in that certain lively manner that was unique to him. “Let us not waste a moment more! Please, descend with us!”

  
What was going on downstairs was beyond Kaede, but she found it kind of cute that someone like Gundham was so eager about it. Sure, the upperclassman made a show out of how he presented himself almost anywhere, but that was different from showing such genuine excitement like he had at the moment. Kaede had a feeling she was going to see a much different side of her acquaintances tonight.

  
Boy, how right she was, in all the wrong ways.

  
Angie warned them that if she found out anything delinquent was happening in her house that she was going to be disappointed, and that there would be repercussions for Himiko before the three of them went back down. Once the door was closed behind them, Angie switched the radio back on, leaving poppy, muffled music blaring through the door.

  
Kaede was behind the other two, so when she arrived to the bottom of the stairs and was met with the deeply unsettling sight that awaited her, she was allowed as much time she need to stand and gape in shock while Gundham and Himiko casually strolled ahead in front of her.

  
There laid before her, painted in deep red along the hard wooden floor, was a pentagram. Yes, a pentagram; an upside down one, within a circle surrounded by foreign symbols that Kaede could not understand if she tried. For several moments, Kaede could not move from her place frozen in the threshold, eyes wide with mainly bafflement and the slightest hint of fear.

  
“Preparations are nearly complete! We need only the candles now!” Gundham spoke up eagerly, snapping Kaede from her trance. Before either of them could speak again, she hurriedly intervened.

  
“ _What’s_ \--what are you guys doing?” She wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding the sudden nervousness that gripped her, but she also didn’t really care to an extent, because whatever was happening right there, right then, deserved an explanation.

  
“We’re summoning a demon...what’s it look like?” Himiko answered so casually, but it was like a punch in the gut to Kaede, and her stomach sank hard. A demon? Was she being serious? She sounded serious...This set-up looked serious…

  
Kaede didn’t believe it, or at least didn’t want to. She was about to argue that demons didn’t exist, that they weren’t real and whatever the pair were about to do was likely for naught. But she conceded, recalling quick that both Himiko and Gundham were very, VERY adamant about the realness of the things they tended to preach, so they were probably serious about this, too. Trying to argue would be pointless. All that came out of her was a strangled ‘why?’.

  
“The question you should be asking is why _not_ , Akamatsu!” Gundham answered this time, having gone to the back corner of the space to retrieve the candles he spoke of previously from a grey plastic bag. “You see, Yumeno and I have been planning this feat for a long while! The enthusiasm my fellow user of the dark arts expressed when I introduced her to the benefits of it allowed me to deduce she would be the perfect partner for this summoning! We are doing this because we seek the knowledge of those who dwell the underworld!”

  
He fiercely went on to explain, setting the candles in each part of the pentagram whilst Himiko trailed behind him, lighting each one. Kaede could only stare on in bewilderment. She wasn’t sure what to do. Scream for Angie? Make an excuse and hightail it out of there? Maybe just lay in the corner and pretend she wasn’t there while they did whatever they were doing?

  
“Is that not a worthy cause for such a ritual?!” He cut into her thoughts again. “It won’t do if such a pivotal member of the process was not in agreement with our philosophies, after all!”

  
Pivotal…? Oh, god, what were they gonna have her do!? Did she want to know??

  
“ _Wait_ , what am I doing!?” She couldn’t stop the question from coming out, even with the fear that gripped her, she was far too curious for her own good.

  
“You’re gonna be our vessel.” Kaede swallowed. “...I mean, not like, the demon’s gonna possess you, but, more like...you’re gonna be our calling card? We need one normal person to draw them out...that’s what the instructions say, anyway…”

  
“Not to worry, Akamatsu! The process is painless! We would not throw a gracious friend of ours in the face of danger! Yumeno would not have chosen you were that the case!” At Gundham’s addition, she can finally find it in herself to relax. That changed her mindset completely. As long as they weren’t planning to sacrifice her or do something gruesome...Kaede didn’t think it’d be so bad to participate. There wasn’t anything to be lost (minus some dignity that the pianist wouldn’t miss) if she played along, right?

  
With that decision made, Kaede mustered a smile and offered a determined nod. “...Alright. Okay. Just tell me what I have to do, and I’ll do it…!”

  
She saw their faces brighten instantly, resolved of the concern they held when Kaede behaved uncertainty.

  
“What you have to do’s real easy,” Himiko piqued, having finished lighting the candles and headed to switch off the basement lights. “Just go kneel in front of the circle and put your hands on the edge of it! We’ll handle the rest!”

  
Seemed simple enough! As told, the pianist went ahead, kneeling before the large sigil, and letting herself survey the scene once more. She’d noticed some odd collection of things in the center. What looked like herbs, some sort of liquid, a few gemstones, and...were those bones? Okay, time to stop looking at the center of the circle before she got anxious again.

  
As the lights were switched off, Kaede went to rest the tips of her fingers on the circle’s edge; the paint wasn’t dry, and at the feeling of it getting on the tips of her fingers, she grimaced a little. It was only the tips, so it could be worse... Himiko and Gundham proceeded to station themselves on either side of her, the latter noticing the position of Kaede’s hands and huffing.

  
“Palms flat on the circle, Akamatsu.” Gundham insisted, and Kaede internally cursed the fact that the ritual was picky, preparing to feel the wet paint reach her palms, too. But when she readjusted her hands, all that she felt was an overwhelming wave of dread crash over her. “Yumeno, you have the incantation memorized, correct?”

  
“Yep. Ready when you are…” Their speaking faded off, and for a moment there, Kaede felt like she was the only presence in the room. She could hear them beginning to chant, but could comprehend none of the words being said, too wrapped up in the steadily growing, smothering fear that took hold of her the moment she flattened her palms. It couldn’t have been the ritual, could it…? No, like Kaede thought previously, this was just another silly conjuring of Himiko’s and Gundham’s hobbies…

  
Or so she wanted to believe. Though her mind grew hazy with the sick feeling building in her stomach, she could still see when the candles surrounding the pentagram flickered. Feel the pressure in the air around them. So much was happening at once, with those new additions mixing into the chaos that was the dissonance of Angie’s loud pop music upstairs, the ambient chanting of two of her friends on either side of her, and the awful sickness weighing her down.

  
She was confused, dazed for several moments as the ritual pressed on...until Kaede’s mind gave way to the mayhem under a violent, sudden pain, and she passed out.

  
What awoke her occurred mere minutes after her fainting. She was brought back to the waking world by the frantic hollers of her acquaintances, mainly the uncharacteristically hyper voice of Himiko, who kept repeating _‘it worked! it really worked! it worked!’_.

  
Her reawakening was a rude one, and sharp aches shot through her head as she tried to come to. The magician was no help, grabbing and shaking the shoulders of the collapsed pianist and directing her loud vocalizations to the poor, dizzy blonde.

  
“Kaede! We did it!!”

  
_“D...Did it…?”_

  
“We summoned her! _We summoned an actual demon!_ We did it!”

  
Kaede didn’t get it.

  
It took her several long seconds to make herself open her eyes, and several more to make her vision focus. For the second time that night, Kaede was met with a sight that shocked her to silence, but this one was of a far greater magnitude than the last.

  
The candles had been blown out, and someone had switched the lights back on, so what stood amidst the pentagram was no trick of the eyes. Their stood an entirely new form that was not present before, an entity of ruby skin and pointed horns and a glare so sharp it could kill any one person standing in the room if looks were capable of such, complete with a long tail ending in what looked like a blade.

  
Kaede processed what had transpired in her brief state of incapacitation, which was no easy coup whatwith just regaining her consciousness and still having to deal with the throbbing left in her brain. But when she does, the first thought to run through her head is not _‘Oh no, we actually summoned a demon’_ or _‘Oh god, demons are real’_ or _‘We’re screwed’_.

  
No.

The first thing Kaede Akamatsu thinks is _‘whoa, she’s **hot**.’_


	2. Greed Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW!! im actually extremely surprised at how much attention this got!! i really wasnt expecting much, but you all went above my expectations!! ;w; thank you so much for all of your kind words!!
> 
> first things first, i don't want to mislead everyone so i'll address what's on a lot of commenters' minds! kaito isn't a demon or an angel, he's actually a human and will be introduced soon ;w; i'm sorry if that comes as a disappointment to anyone and i hope that you will continue to give this fic your attention!
> 
> also, i have no schedule for updating this fic so chapters will come as i have the time to write them out! 
> 
> thanks again and i hope you guys will continue to enjoy !!

All it took was an exasperated, loud huff from the demon for Kaede to scurry back from the pentagram, until her back hit the wall and she was able to start pushing herself with that support to her feet. The internal gush of her attraction to the creature’s looks gave way to the pianist’s logic finally making its way back into her brain process, warning that there was very real danger present in the room. She couldn’t afford to ogle at it like it was some random girl on the street as opposed to a supernatural fiend who was probably more than capable of smashing her puny mortal form, and not in the way she would’ve liked. Her companions could only look on in awe, oblivious to the blonde’s struggling. 

 

Though she retained the base looks of the stereotypical demon, albeit much easier on the eyes than the standard portrayal, some of her appearance was moderately humane. Long, brown hair tied back in twintails and donning a seifuku as well as a skirt, like a school girl; what that implied wasn’t something the dazed girl wasn’t in any state to mull over at the moment.

 

“O, forbidden dweller of hell’s nine circles!” Bellowed Gundham, arms flung out to his sides in a wide, beholding gesture. “We are so very honored to make your acquaintance!! To what do we owe the unholy blessing that your visit to our mortal plane is!?”

 

“...If you’re trying to show me respect or something, that’s not going to cut it.” Despite the surprising normalcy of the demon’s voice, the three humans were each jolted by her speaking. Even Gundham, though he was staggered by the claim itself more than the voice. “ _ You’re _ the ones who summoned  _ me _ , so you know why i’m here. Just get to the point instead of patronizing me.”

 

“Ah-! Erm, right you are…” Gundham made an attempt to recompose himself, incredibly self-conscious in the face of a genuine demon. This was a big event, possibly the biggest, in the breeder’s life, and he did not want to make a fool of himself. “We...would like to be informed of the nature of the underworld and the society you originate from, damned one…” 

 

Silence befell the room, and the demon appeared vaguely puzzled, but most notably annoyed. 

 

“... _ What? _ That’s not what I’m here for. Just tell me who you want killed so I can get this over with.” The impatience was clear; unfortunately for her, the mortals situated in the room were not going to be doing what she wanted any time soon. In fact, not a single one of them had got the apparent memo that the demon spoke of, and they were left momentarily perplexed. Kaede’s confusion had only worsened, and now Gundham and Himiko were to join her in that cluelessness. 

 

_ “K-kill!?” _ Himiko soon yelped, speaking for the three of them. Kaede could tell from the way she flinched and how she seemed to shrink in on herself at the word that she was more scared than confused. “Why...why would we want anyone killed-!?”

 

“Y-you’re mistaken, damned one! That is not the purpose for which you were summoned…!” Gundham frantically corrected, far less telling of his fear in his body language but the composure was lacking enough in his tone that he, too, was obviously unsettled by the statement. 

 

“You _ must _ be messing with me.” The demon accused, and at the movement of her arms from her sides, Kaede can’t help but feel immediate fear again, unaware of the capabilities the nonhuman possessed and getting an idea of the not-so-pleasant intentions she had from her previous assertion. She  _ should _ make as quick an escape from the basement as possible, but with her body still in such a frazzled state, and with this new, unpredictable presence, there were obstacles she was not equipped to handle. Fortunately, the demon only made the motions she did in order to cross her arms. “The circle you prepared is meant to summon an assassin. If you were looking for someone to just...talk to, you would’ve used a different set of symbols.” 

 

_ “Gundham!!” _ Himiko snapped, quick to throw the blame onto her partner. The blame wasn’t exactly uncalled for, being that it was the breeder who acquired the ritual’s instructions in the first place. He was struggling to come up with an explanation for his mistake. Sadly, in the end, all he could do was grunt in defeat.

 

“Y-Yumeno, please accept my apologies...I’ve made a grave miscalculation…” 

 

“Miscalculation!? You gave us the wrong symbols and now there’s a demon in my  _ house _ and she’s gonna  _ kill us!! _ ”

 

“You’re dramatizing the situation.” The demon cut in once more, looking exasperated despite only having been present for mere minutes. Though the drama was understandable to the humans, she, having been summoned a number of times with the same task each time, was far too used to it to get what the big deal was. “I’m not going to kill either of you. Not unless, she asks it, anyway.”

 

And that’s what finally brings the attention to Kaede, again, as the demon pointed a clawed finger in her direction, garnering the glances of both Himiko and Gundham who were equally as startled. It prompted her to finally speak up again.

 

“M-me…?” She asked meekly, suddenly feeling the pressure of all three pairs of eyes in the room surveying her crash down on her shoulders.

 

“You,” The demon echoed. “You’re my vessel, so you’re in control, here. If you want either of them dead, I’ll have it done.” 

 

Her face twisted in horror. In that instant it hit her that, apparently, the ability to kill her friends had just been thrust upon her, and that’s something she didn’t want control of ever, at all. Why would she kill her friends? Why would she kill  _ anyone? _ She had malice for only a very limited set of people, but even then, no kind of hatred the pianist held was worth killing over!

 

It sickened her to think there were even other people in the world who would go so far as to reach into the depths of the underworld and toy with the supernatural powers found their just to get rid of other people. Furthermore, the fact that two students managed to get their hands on whatever let them tap into that power was absurd. Just how easy was it to do this sort of thing…?

 

“K-Kaede, you’re...you’re not gonna kill me, right??” Himiko was panicking visibly, and the look in her eyes at the prospect of being murdered when her intentions before were questionably innocent was killing Kaede. 

 

“No!” She quickly assured, shaking her head hastily. “No, i’m...i’m not going to kill anyone! I wouldn’t do that...” 

 

“R-right, yes! None of us wish to bring death upon anyone! We merely called upon the wrong type of demon, that is all…” Gundham continued on, twitching, bandaged fingers reaching to clutch the purely-aesthetic scarf draped around his neck, for comfort. “You may return from whence you came, if you do not wish to help us in our pursuit of knowledge…”

 

“If it were that easy, I’d have left the second I realized you _ idiots _ had the wrong idea.” The demon leered at the trio. “ _ Look _ . I’m not some other mortal, you guys can drop the ‘i wouldn’t harm a soul’ act around me.  _ Everyone  _ wants _ someone _ dead. It’s as easy as telling me who and waiting for me to get the job done.” 

 

“Didn’t you hear Kaede!? She said no! J-just go home!” The situation was just wracking the poor magician with fear, and Kaede was more than sure that she should’ve just abandoned the ritual the second it was proposed to her and gone home. Everything was totally falling apart. The demon pinched the bridge of her nose. 

 

“I  _ can’t _ .” She’d remind, and her lips pulled back revealing her pointed, gritted canines. “I have no access to hell until I complete my task here. Which is why i’m trying to get this over with.” Arms unfolded finally, and they returned to her sides, hands balled into fists to exert her frustration. “ _ Just tell me who you wanted offed _ . It can be anyone, even just some stranger, I don’t  _ care _ .” 

 

An argument is close to breaking out, but an outsider disrupted the flow of things. There is an instant, deeply ingrained fear between the mortals as light feet travel down the steps and a voice calls to them. The lot hadn’t even noticed that the music upstairs came to a halt. 

 

“ _ Himiko?  _ Did you happen to by any chance take one of my paint cans? One of the red ones? I understand if you were needing to borrow it, but I would have appreciated a little warning beforehand, it’s really important to the piece i’m currently-”

 

She spoke the whole way down, however, upon reaching the last step and being greeted with the sight of the demon that she most certainly did not let into her house standing in the middle of the basement, she hardly had any time to speak or acknowledge anything. She tripped over herself with the speed at which she immediately turned to ascend the stairs once more, scrambling back up on all fours and slamming the door shut. 

 

Himiko looked like she was seconds from a panic attack. She called after Angie, on the verge of tears as she pursued her housemate, totally abandoning the still unresolved situation.

 

“Ngh…! Yumeno!!” Seemed that Himiko wasn’t the only one bent on escaping, as Gundham followed suit in quick succession. Kaede had watched them both evacuate the room; her eyes lingered on the doorway they disappeared into, before letting her gaze slowly return to the demon. 

 

She locked eyes with her. The demon’s were brilliant, a captivating red, pigments that she’d never seen in the eyes of any other living creature. There was a fire behind them that Kaede could feel burning her from a mere glance. And beyond that fire, a plea. Well...not so much a plea as a very insistent ‘if you know what’s good for you, don’t leave like the rest of them just did’. 

 

...She was  _ really  _ pretty. 

 

But she was also a demon.

 

A demon with a mission that Kaede didn’t want anything to do with.

 

It only took moments of awkward silence for Kaede to let the fear from the past hour or so take over, adrenaline surging through her as she made a break for the stairs. She could hear the demon call out to her, and that only made her quicker in getting out. When she reached the top, she opened and closed the door, and could only stammer a ‘goodbye’ to the three now gathered in the living room in her rush. It didn’t seem like any of them paid much attention to her.

 

She hadn’t seen Angie when she bolted out of the front door, but she had heard her, and she sounded genuinely angry with Himiko. _ “How could you let something like that into our house!?”  _ Was all she caught before she was completely outside and down the street. A hasty text consisting of _ ‘can you come get me please’  _ was sent off to Shuichi as soon as she could manage, and his reply was a near-immediate _ ‘be there in 5’ _ .

 

It was the longest five minutes of her life. She could only stand there with her phone, throwing her eyes over her shoulder at the house she’d just left multiple times. It was dark outside, and the rollercoaster of a time that she’d just thrown herself off of had left her with heightened paranoia. Even if the demon didn’t come after her, she worried something else might attack her while she was vulnerable. 

 

Luckily, Shuichi was fast as ever. When he pulled up, she practically wrenched open the passenger seat door, and shut it with just as much force, shaking the car in the process and thoroughly alarming the driver. 

 

“What happened?” He hadn’t gotten the chance to ask before, and the way Kaede so violently threw herself into the passenger seat was more than telling that something had went totally wrong.

 

“Nothing,” She said at first, but quickly realized that was total bullshit and went on to lie instead. Well, not a lie, more like a half-truth. “Uhm, Angie and Himiko got in a fight and I felt awkward staying around, so, I asked you to pick me up!”

 

Shuichi didn’t fully buy it, obvious from his look of skepticism. “Kaede, you look...absolutely drained of color. Is that _ all  _ that happened?”

 

“A-Angie’s really scary when she’s mad, that’s all! It was weird seeing her like that, y’know??” It was pretty futile, in that case, for Kaede to try and push her reasoning, but Shuichi, as hurt as he was that Kaede wouldn’t outright tell him what went wrong in full, didn’t pry any further. Maybe he’d ask her again later, when she wasn’t as freaked out.

 

The ride back was fairly quiet, Shuichi asked if it was any fun and Kaede kept her answers brief. All around it was uneventful, even up to their departure at the dorms. Kaede just wanted the night to be over with. Too much had happened that she wasn’t at all prepared for had gone down, and she wanted nothing more than to lie in her bed and dream of playing the piano she was all too tired to play in the waking world, forgetting all of her problems for however many hours her body let her rest. 

 

Once she kicked her shoes off, flopped on her bed, and her head hit the pillow, she was out. She hoped the prior exhaustion would keep her asleep for a while, but, much to her dismay, she found herself stirring at about three in the morning. 

 

She hadn’t deigned to turn off the lights before heading to sleep. So when she awoke, the surprise awaiting her was clear to her eyes. Slumped into the chair of the desk settled right beside her bed, looking both incredibly bored and incredibly irritated at the same time, with a book from the shelf on the other side of the desk clutched between the claws of one hand whilst the other flipped impassively through the pages, was the demon.

 

Kaede, half-awake, could only scream.


	3. Greed Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW it took me a while to get to this chapter!! sorry my motivation took a brief dip, but in honor of kaemaki week starting, i decided to finish chapter 3 up for you guys!! (i'll also be posting art for this fic on day 4, so if ur interested in seeing that you can see it on my main tumblr, @opossumindulgence!) thanks so much again for supporting me so far, im really REALLY happy so many people have taken such an interest in my story! the beginning is slow, but i assure you, there are exciting events to come!

Kaede had spent the first few moments of being awake screaming, but found quickly that that was probably not a good idea considering other people were trying to sleep, and she also didn’t want to bring attention to the fact that there was an entire demon in the dorm building. So, she clasped a hand over her mouth, and silenced herself, though curled in on herself and pushed her body back against the wall where her bed met it. 

 

The demon only looked further vexed, and she made a face of what looked like disgust at the pianist’s response. 

 

“Why are you so _ loud? _ ” 

 

“Why are  _ you  _ in my  _ room!? _ ” Kaede shot back a little too quick for her own good, and regretted it shortly after, because she had just sassily ignored the question of a demon that could probably rip her in half. She really had to stop doing that, it was just that she was facing a lot of feelings right at that instant.

 

“You  _ know  _ why.” The demon snapped the book shut, tossing it aside halfheartedly and letting it smack down back atop the desk. “I already explained that you’re my vessel, I’m not going to bother repeating myself. Did you expect me to just go away or something because you left the summoning grounds?”

 

“I don’t know…!” Kaede practically whimpered out, making an exaggerated shrugging gesture to emphasize. “I don’t know anything about demons! I thought demons didn’t exist! I was just playing along with my friends to make them happy, I didn’t want to be apart of this!!”

 

The demon squinted, turning her body to face the human a little better. Her tail flicked. The next few things she said were less directed at Kaede and more out-loud rambling to herself. “What a  _ mess _ . Of course,  _ I _ just had to be the one to get stuck with some stubborn human who won’t let me do my job…” With a pause, she directed her attention fully back to Kaede again, though, with an irritated look. “...I can’t hurt you unless you tell me, to, so if you could stop cowering, that’d be nice.” 

 

“...Well, your job happens to be killing people, so, if I have a choice to stop that from happening, then i’m more than happy to keep it that way…” Kaede firmly reminded the other of her stance, uncurling from her place back against the wall, keeping her arms folded over her chest. Kaede was far too trusting, so she believed that claim of the demon’s right off the bat, and instantly felt more secure where she sat. 

 

“And so long as you intend to keep it that way, I can’t leave. I’m _ stuck _ . Which means _ you _ are also stuck with me.” With crimson eyes narrowed at the pianist, the demon awaited an answer, and got none. Instead, a period of awkward silence ensued. Kaede refused to meet the other’s eyes again in that time, just staring down at the indent her sleeping form left in her bed and wondering what on Earth she was going to do about this. The demon was planning to stay if she hadn’t been ordered to kill someone...Or rather, she  _ had _ to stay. 

 

The way it was presented, it felt like an impossible situation. Kaede was by no means going to consider murder an option, even if it was the only one capable of sending the demon back. But she wasn’t okay with having some evil entity follow her around for the rest of her life, either...

 

“...Is there really absolutely no way for you to go back if you don’t kill someone?” Kaede spoke back up again, finally, after mulling over how to handle things. 

 

“Not that I know of. It’s...a rule. I have to meet the requirements of the summon before I get access back home.” 

 

“A... _ rule? _ You have rules in hell?” That was a little off-topic, and her voice grew quieter when she asked; it was more rhetoric than anything. 

 

“Rules for those of us willing to do dirty work, yes. As far as i’m concerned, being called to the mortal world periodically to kill a few people is better than an eternity’s worth of endless suffering.” Kaede winced at the thought of that, and wished she’d kept her question in her head.

 

“No, but, that first thing you said...  _ ‘Not that you know of?’ _ ” 

 

“As in, if there’s a way for me to go back without doing what I have to do, then i’m unaware.” The demon sighed. “You’re probably thinking there’s a way but I just don’t know about it, right? Perish the thought. I would’ve been informed if there was some last ditch thing that would send me back. So there can’t be.” Kaede frowned heavily at that. She had a point, although...

 

“Ah-! Well...What if there is and they just don’t tell you?” ...Kaede was too obstinate to give it up at that. “Maybe it’s a secret!”

 

“You just said a second ago that you don’t know anything about demons, human. What makes you think you know better than I would?” The demon almost looked offended, but Kaede only offered a smile. She was gaining confidence now that she was coming to understand the situation better. This was a demon, a demon who killed people...but a demon who killed only because the other options to her life were true damnation. 

 

This demon also happened to need help getting home, and that’s what Kaede prided herself on; trying her damnedest (haha) to help others. 

 

“Akamatsu. Kaede Akamatsu.” She corrected, and then, with a moment of hesitation, extended her hand toward the demon. “You’re welcome to just call me Kaede!”

 

The demon blinked, thrown off by what part of her words the pianist decided to acknowledge first. “...Alright,  _ Akamatsu _ .” She muttered with a brief raise of her brows, totally ignoring the other’s hand. Kaede couldn’t help feeling a little hurt, letting her unshaken hand drop awkwardly back into her lap instead.  _ Whoa, okay, slow your roll,  _ She thought.  _ The demon isn’t gonna be your best buddy or anything just because you stopped being scared. _ “Anyway, y-”

 

“Wait, wait, tell me your name, too! I’ve just been calling you a demon this whole time!” Kaede interrupted the flow of conversation once more, earning annoyed grunt from the other. 

 

“ _ Why _ does it matter so much to you?” She finally snapped back. 

 

“We’re gonna be working together from now on, so, it’s only fair that we know each other’s names, isn’t it?” Kaede would reason, still maintaining her chipper little grin. 

 

“We wouldn’t have to if someone would drop the good girl act, already.” She would sneer back coldly, which simply pushed the pianist to get huffy.

 

“Hey, come on, it’s not an act, okay?” She insisted, now gazing upon the underworld entity with underlying indignation over her attitude. “Look, I know you’re like...freaked out and angry because I won’t let you take the easier way out of this situation. If I were you, maybe I’d be the same way, but, I’m not saying what i’m saying to spite you. I just want to help…” 

 

The demon dragged her hands down her face, and Kaede could’ve sworn she heard her make a small noise of defeat, which was enough to get her hopes up. 

 

“...Harukawa.” She mumbled out past her claws. 

 

“Harukawa-?”

 

“Maki Harukawa.” She repeated in full, letting her hands fall back into her lap. She looked on with contempt, still, but her face had softened out of submission to the painfully persistent nature of the human before her. “That’s my name. As you asked.” 

 

“Wait, really?” Kaede’s brows knit together. She was happy that she’d managed to get through to the demon, apparently named Maki, though she was now perplexed. “Is that...actually your name?”

 

“...Why would I have any reason to lie about it?” Kaede shifted at the question, eyes dodging away.

 

“No, no, I wasn’t accusing you of lying or anything, I just kind of expected you to say something like...Latin or weird and hard to pronounce? It’s just oddly cute for a demon!” The pianist blinked, moving her eyes down and sputtering her next few words rather unnecessarily. Not that she could stop herself; she spoke her mind without thinking from time to time. “...Not that you aren’t cute!”

 

“...Alright, then.” Maki wasn’t certain of how to react to what was probably meant to be a compliment, so preferred to brush it off. “So, you intend to work with me. What’s your plan?”

 

“Don’t have one yet!” Kaede briskly exclaimed, proceeding to scoot herself back into the cozy indent of her bed, yanking the covers out from beneath herself and snuggling herself up in them. “It’s, like, three in the morning, my brain isn’t working at fullpower! I can’t come up with a demon rescue plan on the spot at this hour!” She had turned on her side to face away from Maki when laying back down...then turned back over to face her, because having her back to the other felt...strange and she didn’t like it, even if she tended to sleep facing the wall. 

 

Maki was exasperated, that much could be told from the way her eyelids drooped and her forehead wrinkled and the corners of her mouth insisted on remaining downturned. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but withheld and only stared. 

 

“...Hey, no offense, but could you maybe, like...go to a different room or leave my dorm until I wake back up? I really don’t think I can sleep with you watching me…” 

 

Maki rolled her eyes, but complied quietly, getting up from the desk chair and moving to the other end of the dorm, toward the bathroom. Before she opened the door, however, she paused.

 

“...I don’t have any expectations for what you’ll come up with.” She spoke up one last time. “You’re a human with no experience, so i’m sure whatever you intend to do, you’ll forget about or give up on it sooner or later.” And with that, she was out of the room for the night, leaving Kaede with some wounded feelings. 

 

Well...even if Maki expected nothing of her, Kaede would prove her wrong! She didn’t care how much the demon defied her motives; she’d find out how to do this the way she wanted to do it. And maybe, just maybe, that sense of stubborness would be her downfall, but it was three in the morning, she had just became properly acquainted with a demon, and she didn’t seem to much care. 

 

Come morning, she hadn’t changed her mind, so that determination hours before wasn’t just a sleepy disquisition.

 

When she’d got up to prepare for the day, the bathroom was her first stop, and she’d found Maki slumped in the bathtub when she entered, scaring the hell out of her since she’d forgotten in her morning daze that she’d told her to go elsewhere for the night. She proceeded to shoo the demon out so she could bathe and get dressed for the day.

 

Maki had relocated to sitting atop her desk when she emerged from the bathroom. And no, she was not seated at the desk, she was  _ atop _ it. Positioned like a gargoyle, almost. Kaede laughed without meaning to, earning a raise of Maki’s brow.

 

“Do I have to get used to you sitting on my desk like that?” 

 

“Only if you continue to deny me of my purpose.”

 

“So that’s a yes,” Kaede seated herself on her bed, pulling her legs up to cross them, looking kind of like an eager child as she leaned forward and beamed up at Maki. “Alright! No class today, so, we can start formulating a plan!”

 

“We, as in you.” Maki squinted. “I’ve already made it clear I don’t have leads on any possible solution aside from the main one.” 

 

“We as in  _ us! _ You’re still going to help!” The pianist puffed her cheeks out. “I need your extensive demon knowledge to start!” 

 

“I’ve already told you-”

 

“About how you don’t know any other way to go home, yes, I know,” She huffed, leaning back. “I mean, just general stuff, not about this particular thing. Maybe it could give me some ideas, since I don’t know the first thing about demon stuff…”

 

“I’m not exactly a fountain of knowledge,” Maki quipped. “But if it’ll make you quit this faster, I’ll tell you what you want to know.” 

 

Kaede was pretty relieved that the other was cooperating now, even if anything she said was usually paired with something pessimistic. She had to sit quietly for a moment and root around her brain for a good question. It should be something general, something that wouldn’t be difficult to answer but would tell her what she didn’t already know...Oh, she could maybe ask about the relationship between demons and humans! That would’ve been a great way to start.

 

_ Would’ve _ been.

 

Kaede opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the stampede of feet outside her door, and the impromptu swinging open of her door (she usually locked it, but she supposed she’d forgotten to, or Maki hadn't bothered to when she found her way into the dorm room the night before). 

 

_ “Kaede-!” _ It was none other than her best friend, which was extremely surprising, because the detective was a polite boy who would always knock on her door before entering, even if Kaede told him not to or purposely left it unlocked so he wouldn’t have to knock for her. So for him to come barging in was the last thing Kaede expected, and there she was, casually sitting and speaking to a red woman with horns and a tail. 

 

Shuichi was originally excited, which could probably have been gathered from not only the eager look on his face but his atypical mannerisms, but the moment he had comprehended Maki’s presence, he could do nothing but scream, and with his fight or flight activated, he chose to turn and run. 

 

Kaede reacted quick, springing up from her bed, having originally intended to go after him but freezing up. Instead, before she could really stop herself, she hollered, “Maki, stop him!” and the demon disappeared into the hall in a blur of red. 

 

Shuichi fell silent, and within moments Maki returned to the dorm with a passed out detective in her grip. Kaede couldn’t help but stare for a few moments before throwing herself against her door, shutting and locking it. 

 

And then, she sank against it, and contemplated what on Earth she was going to tell Shuichi when he woke up. 


	4. Greed Part IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI WOW THIS TOOK ME A LOT LONGER THAN I WANTED IT TO  
> as usual! thanks so much everyone for the support. i hope i can stabilize my posting frequency as to not throw anyone off. this chapter's a lot longer than the last few, but it's for good reason, i promise.  
> please enjoy!

“So,” Maki spoke up first, depositing the limp detective on the floor like a ragdoll. “He was annoying. Is he usually like that? Because, if so, I could always-”

 

“No, stop, I know what you’re going to say, _stop it_.” Kaede hissed out, scrambling away from the door to check on Shuichi, make sure the demon didn’t bring him any harm. It looked like he was all good, except for being pale and having passed out, anyway. “He’s not annoying, he’s my best friend, and he’s the absolute last person I would ever want to be killed.”

 

“So, you’re saying there are others you’d let die before him.”

 

“You know what I meant! Stop!” From thereon, she was probably just going to ignore it, because Maki hadn’t listened to her so far and it was already getting on her nerves. “Ugh, what do I do…? He saw you…”

 

Maki only offered a shrug of her shoulders, as if she didn’t care either way, peering down at them. Kaede half-glared, as if to say _‘well, you’re no help’_ , and her face softened when she gazed down at her unconscious friend. Part of her wondered if she could get away with dragging him to his dorm and pretending none of this ever happened, hiding Maki and trying to convince him it was merely a dream. But with that at risk, she could’ve been caught toting his body down the hall. And however puny his stature was, she would have probably needed Maki’s help to do that, so it would only make the situation worse if more classmates were clued into the demon’s presence. Especially after Shuichi’s screaming! People were going to question that, too, she wouldn’t be surprised if there were others already emerging to check on the commotion.

 

She was screwed, more or less. She’d have to explain it to him whether she wanted to or not. Maybe that was for the better, though. Shuichi was like a brother to her, her closest friend who she trusted with everything. This whole situation, no matter how asinine, was part of that everything. She sat by Shuichi while he lie unconscious there, and she decided to continue on the previous conversation with Maki, since there was little else she could do than wait for Shuichi to get up in the meantime.

 

They didn’t get very far in terms of leads on alternate solutions; Maki had given her the information she had when asked of it, talking about how humans had been utilizing the strength of demons through contracts and summonings since conception, but that in recent years humans had been recruiting the help of demons less and less. It was why Kaede was under the impression they didn’t exist, why many people of recent generations said nothing about it or had been deemed insane for the notion.

 

They’d been interrupted once by Kaito Momota, who knocked asking if Shuichi was alright, having heard his hollering and thinking the boy he so fondly referred to as his sidekick was hurt. Kaede only half-opened the door and made a couple of excuses to shoo him off, saying she just spooked Shuichi and that was all. Kaito accepted that, luckily, leaving her to only have to worry about having to tell her best friend about the whole demon deal.

There wasn’t much else to say by that point, but Shuichi began to stir as Maki was finishing speaking about the modern relationship between humans and demons, and Kaede hurriedly hushed her, scooting back to allow the boy some space.

 

Once his eyes blinked open, his vision cleared, and he registered once again that there just so happened to be a red, horned woman standing in the room, promptly opening his mouth to scream again. Kaede cut him off this time, haphazardly clasping a hand over his face and hurriedly trying to explain the situation.

 

“Shuichi! Stop! Stop screaming! Please! You’re not in danger!!”

 

Shuichi wriggled, squinting at Kaede and making an inquisitive, muffled noise of panic.

 

“Look, I know you’re freaked out, I was freaked out, too, that’s why I called you to pick me up last night! But if you keep being loud, we’re gonna get in way deeper trouble than we already are!” Kaede tried to reason, and apparently successfully got through that time, because Shuichi, albeit shaky still, ceased his struggle and stopped vocalizing his hysteria.

 

“Okay,” Kaede relaxed, backing off of the detective who sprung up into a sitting position, and scooted away from where Maki sat as quickly as he could manage. He wouldn’t take his eyes off her, amazed and horrified all the same. Kaede couldn’t blame him, he’d reacted just the same as she did. “So, I...may or may not have lied to you the other night.”

 

Shuichi suddenly snapped out of his bewilderment, a painfully betrayed look overcoming his pale features and gaze settling on Kaede instead of the demon. “You _what?_ ”

 

“Well-!” She scrambled, not expecting him to totally focus his attention on her at that statement. On one hand, she’s happy that the trust and friendship between them means so much that he would put that before his perplexity in regards to the demon, but on the other, she was deeply guilted by her own decisions. “Well, more like I...might’ve left out some stuff…”

 

 _“Might have…??”_ The detective gestured, and it would’ve been aggressive had he a single hostile bone in his body.

 

“I’m,” At that point, she gave up trying to justify her actions. She was obviously in the wrong here, and not owning up to that was just plain offensive. “I’m sorry. I...tried to run away from the problem. And by not telling you or acknowledging it, I thought it would just go away. It was really stupid of me…”

 

From there, she went on to explain the whole story. Everything from Himiko’s first text to her resolve to help bring Maki back home without an unnecessary death occurring.

 

Shuichi pause amidst that, and fell silent until she finished the explanation. His glance lowered, and he thought for several moments before finally giving a slow nod of acknowledgement.

 

“I'm hurt that you didn't tell me, but...I get why you did it. And I can't really fault you for doing something I would probably do myself, aha...” He spoke, far more calm about the situation now that he was aware Maki wouldn't bring him harm without Kaede’s order. “I want you to know, even if you sound crazy, I want you to tell me the truth.”

 

Of course, Shuichi Saihara wasn’t ultimate detective in skill alone; his value of honesty and truth were beyond his profession, and Kaede admired that deeply about him. She gave a meager nod. There’s a brief interval of silence, and in that time, Shuichi’s eyes swivelled over to lie back on the demon. He shivered a little, readjusting to the elephant in the room.

 

“Uh, I feel like I might regret this offer, but...If you’d like my help finding a solution to all of this, I’m happy to lend it.”

 

Kaede had been on the verge of tears moments ago, but now that Shuichi’s rational and relaxed personality had breached again, she could compose herself. In fact, she practically lit up when the boy offered his help.

 

“Really??”

 

“Yes, really. If I can prevent my Ultimate Best Friend from having to live with the guilt of knowing someone died by her hand, then I'll do whatever it takes.”

 

And just like that, she was back on the verge of tears, for a different reason that time. Kaede threw her arms around Shuichi, embracing him tightly.

 

“Shuichi…!” She nearly whimpered, grateful that she could count on Shuichi no matter the case. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?!”

 

“Only a million times a day, Kae,” He chuckled, returning the hug.

 

“...So you’re recruiting another human to help you?” Maki chimed in, spooking both Kaede and Shuichi into separating and directing their attention to her.

 

“Ah-! Yeah!”

 

“U-uh…” Shuichi scooted back further from Kaede, and while keeping his distance, reached his hand toward the demon. “Shuichi Saihara.”

 

Maki squinted and said nothing in return, having done the same to the boy as she had to Kaede, though not even offering her name that time.

 

“Her name’s Maki Harukawa,” Kaede added, reaching over to lower the detective’s hand and signal that he would receive nothing from her. “I’m sure she’s charmed to meet you!”

 

“Not really.”

 

“Ah…well, either way, it's good to meet you, Harukawa. I’m...the Ultimate Detective. Uh, in-training, that is.”

 

She raised her eyebrows at him, slightly more interested in what he had to say.

 

“You're a detective.” She stated.

 

“In-training…!” He corrected Maki, sheepishly.

 

“A really _awesome_ detective-in-training.” Kaede corrected Shuichi, who could only look down bashfully when met with that. He wanted to say he really wasn't that great, but he knew Kaede well enough by now to be sure that she’d only deflect it again. He was lucky to have her there to discourage his self-deprecating tendencies.

 

“Where will you start?”

 

“Start-” Oh, yes, he had just kind of haphazardly taken up a case, hadn’t he? It was time to put on his metaphorical thinking cap, since his physical thinking cap was already on. Kaede watched as he leaned forward, and his eyes no longer focused Maki. Hand to his chin, a thoughtful ‘hm’ emitting from him, the usual cues that Kaede could pick up on and know he was seriously thinking about this. “Well, you could start by telling me about the place you came from-”

 

“Not to worry, I took care of that interrogation for you!” Kaede chimed in, offering a thumbs up. “...Nothing came of it, though, aha…”

 

“Ah...Then, I think our next step should be speaking to the parties involved. It was Yumeno and Yonaga, right?”

 

“Technically just Himiko...and Gundham! Angie was just at the house at the time, she didn’t do anything.”

 

“Tanaka?” Shuichi quipped a brow. He didn’t remember Kaede mentioning him, but knowing that boy, it made sense. “Any idea where they are right now?”

 

Kaede didn’t actually know. She hadn’t spoken with them since last night, after all. With a shake of her head, she finally remembered her phone existed, and that she hadn’t actually touched it since crashing. It didn’t even occur to her; were they okay??? Crawling across the floor, she reached up to take it off of her nightstand, and unlocked it to look through for any notifications.

 

There were a lot of messages from Himiko, some from the day before, some from that morning. All of them boiled down to the same thing, though; a lot of apologies, just what seemed like general distress, and it stung Kaede to read that she was so incredibly stressed over something considering the magician’s usual attitude. The last few messages were inquiries as to whether or not she was okay, from minutes before she opened her phone, and she made haste in replying.

 

_‘himiko, hey, i’m okay. please don’t worry about me. and you don’t have to keep apologizing! but in a little bit, could you maybe come to campus, meet me in my dorm? and could you bring gundham?? its important’_

 

Himiko’s response was near immediate.

 

**_‘yeah i can ill be there in like no time im gonna go rn n ill get gundham’_ **

 

“They’ll be here soon.” Kaede spoke up, relieved that nothing had happened to either of them. Nothing outside of demon summoning trauma and, in Himiko’s case, getting chewed out by her roommate.

 

“What makes you think either of them would have any better insight than me?” Maki cut back in, now appearing less engaged with what Shuichi could bring to the table. The detective definitely took notice to that, and being looked down upon by an inhuman entity was obviously not doing anything good to his self-esteem.

 

“I just want a better grasp on the situation. And, since Tanaka has an explicit interest in the underworld, I just feel it might be beneficial to gather information about it from the standpoint of a human, too.” He attempted to reason, tilting his head down so that the visor of his hat would cover his eyes, so that he wouldn’t have to keep looking at the demon’s face.

 

“And if that fails?”

 

Before Shuichi could answer, Kaede, pouting, intercepted.

 

“He doesn’t have to have a full game plan right off the bat! He’ll cross the bridge of where to go next when he gets to it. Just have patience.”

 

Maki tutted, then silenced for the time being. Not what Kaede intended, but probably better for Shuichi’s sake.

 

“...I do have an idea for who to go to once we finish with Tanaka and Yumeno, actually.” The detective looked to Kaede, who was all ears for whatever he wanted to bring up. “We’re dealing with a genuine supernatural problem that concerns the bond between humans and demons. Humans have been telling stories of demons for a long time, now. Whether he may realize it or not, who can you think of that’s here at Hope’s Peak because of his talent in studying human beings and their history?”

 

The pianist had to think for a moment, though, the answer was quite obvious, and she blurted it quite confidently when she had it, pointing. “Kiyo!”

 

“Exactly right.” Shuichi beamed, moving to finally get up off of the ground so that he could appear more dignified whenever Himiko and Gundham were to arrive. Figuring Kaede would want the same, he offered his hand to help her up. “Once we’re done with the others, we can consult Shinguuji and see if he has any further intellect to share.”

 

“Good thinking, detective Saihara!” Kaede grinned, taking his hand to be pulled up onto her feet.

 

“Kaede, it’s not like I’ve made a breakthrough or anything. I’m just using common sense…”

 

“Well, _I_ certainly didn’t think of it, so I think it’s pretty great, especially since I had no clue where to go from asking Maki about demon stuff.”

 

“Speaking of which, I know you said there was nothing, but do you mind telling me about that? It might be important to know later down the line.”

 

Kaede spent the time waiting for Gundham’s and Himiko’s arrival filling Shuichi in on what was relayed to her; it had only taken about ten minutes for the pair to come, and Kaede had made sure to ask Maki to leave the room again as to minimize stress during the meeting.

 

They both looked notably distressed when they arrived, more so Gundham than Himiko, who actually looked too exhausted to feel distress.

 

“Come in…!” Kaede welcomed, shutting the door behind them and inviting them to sit on her bed while Shuichi took her desk chair and she took the floor.

 

“...Where is the accursed one?” Gundham inquired first and foremost, not even allowing an explanation for the meeting before springing it upon them, arms folded as he reluctantly settled atop the bed beside Himiko.

 

“I put her in the bathroom so she won’t be a distraction.” Kaede answered, earning a look of shock from Gundham.

 

“Gh-! Akamatsu, I had no idea you were so bold as to treat your demonic companion as though she were some pesky dog…!”

 

“Wh--No! No, I didn’t mean it like that, I just asked her to leave the room and that’s where she decided to go!”

 

“W-wait, the demon’s still here??” Just like that, Himiko was now looking way more afraid, her fingers clenching around the blanket of the bed. She looked like she wanted to get up and leave right away.

 

“Uh, let’s not get out of hand just yet,” Shuichi tried to gain control of the situation. “I just wanted to ask you guys a few questions.”

 

“She won’t come out and she won’t hurt you, Himiko. You’re just here to help Shuichi understand what happened better, I promise.” Kaede made an attempt to help him do so, keeping her voice soft but firm in reassurance. Himiko looked a little less like she would spring up at any second with uncharacteristic energy and book it.

 

The first few questions were rather general, like what it was Gundham and Himiko were thinking when they decided to do what they did, how they did it. They explained it like they’d done to Kaede before, which didn’t move them much further, but that wouldn’t stop Shuichi.

 

“Tanaka,” He started into his next inquiry. “You said that you came into possession of a paper instructing the summoning ritual, right? Where did you find it?”

 

“Correct,” Gundham expressed with a solemn nod. “I had discovered it among the books in my room, placed between the pages of one of my forbidden arts encyclopedias! What with the convenience of it, I could only assume the dark lords were calling upon me to summon the accursed one unto our plane of existence…”

 

“...So, you don’t know who put it there?”

 

“Were it a mortal messenger of the dark lords who had done it, I wouldn't have the first clue has to who in the school might do some such thing.”  

 

“And this is your first time encountering something like this?”

“My first time encountering one that has served its purpose, yes. Anything I have attempted before has only resulted in failure…”

 

“I see…” Shuichi relented, finally. “Alright. I think that’s everything I need to know. Tanaka, is there any chance you’d be willing to leave the summoning ritual page with us? Just so we have it on hand to reference back to.”

 

“I have no quarrels relenting it to you for the time being, so long as you do not attempt a summoning yourselves. Those unfamiliar with the forbidden arts should not mess about with something so powerful as a summoning circle.”

 

“I can assure you we won’t do anything like that with it.”

 

Kaede glanced to Himiko as their brief meeting finished up; Shuichi had hardly asked her anything, and though she had very little to contribute in general, the pianist still felt bad. At this point, they were all standing and moving toward the door, Gundham being the first to leave with the promise he would return with the paper. Himiko hesitated at the door.

 

“...I’m sorry.” She apologized once again, in person this time.

 

“Himiko,” Kaede frowned lightly. “I already told you, you don’t have to keep apologi-”

 

Before she knew it, the smaller magician girl clung onto her, and she was frightened at first, but didn’t take long to embrace the other in return.

 

“But I _do!_ ” She cried out, but because Himiko wasn’t a loud person, it was a rather quiet cry. “ _I_ got you into this mess! I shouldn’t have texted you or invited your or anything, I should’nt’ve even agreed to do this whole thing with Gundham…!”

 

For a few moments, Kaede stood rubbing the magician’s back and letting her get out her guilt over what she’d done to the pianist. She was left to give her quiet reassurance, and let her burn herself out on repetitive apologies and promises to never do anything stupid like that again. By the time she was done, she looked even lower on energy than when she first came, and Kaede felt bad saying goodbye, but knew that she had to so that she and Shuichi could continue their investigation.

 

Once both were gone, she shut the door behind her, and exhaled. She was troubled, but she’d get over it. It’d be fine.

 

“So, Kiyo next?” She asked, garnering back the attention of a very quiet Shuichi, who’d just been hanging back and watching.

 

“Yeah. We’ll go after Tanaka gets back.” He replied quickly, trying to dismiss the awkward air now hanging around them and making his way back over to the desk chair to plop down and ponder while they waited for the breeder.

 

Thinking about what Gundham had said previously, Kaede headed over to the bathroom door, opening it.

 

“Hey, you can come out now. Sorry about that…!”

Maki emerged, unamused.

 

“Whatever. You’re leaving to consult the human expert soon, right? Am I tagging along?” She avoided the topic of being confined to the washroom, tail flicking.

 

“We can’t have other people finding out there’s a demon in the school, so you should probably stay here.”

 

“You know, I _can_ disguise myself if need be.” The demon shrugged. “But I don’t care about staying or going either way.”

 

“You can!?” Kaede blinked, head snapping toward Maki. “What do you mean? How?”

 

Before either Kaede or Shuichi could comprehend it, Maki no longer appeared as a demon, but instead a normal, highschool age-looking girl, as if in the blink of an eye. This, of course, promptly scared the hell out of both of them.

 

 _“AH-”_ Shuichi scrambled backward, nearly falling out of the desk chair.

 

 _“WHAT-”_ Kaede stumbled back, grabbing at either side of her head. _“WHAT DID YOU JUST DO? WHAT!? HOW?”_

 

“I did what I said I could.” She shrugged once more. “This is my disguise.”

 

“You can just _do_ that!?”

 

“...Yes?”

 

Kaede paused, slapping a hand against her forehead and pushing it up and back throw her hair, trying to get over herself. She might’ve chilled out had she not come to a realization.

 

“Wait-” She squinted. “Wait, if you can do this, why didn’t you when Shuichi came in?!”

 

“I'm not psychic. With no prior warning, I can’t exactly know when to disguise myself.”

 

Kaede pointed a shaking finger momentarily, but exhaled and dropped it, figuring she was right. It was probably better that Shuichi had seen, anyway; things had gone over much better than she thought that they would, and now she wasn’t alone in seeking a solution.

 

“You...can come with if you want to, then. Actually, you probably should. No one’s seen you on campus before, so this way we can get you established and avoid suspicion! I can say you’re like...my friend from another school!”

With all of that worked out, they could get moving after Gundham dropped off the summoning circle ritual, which he did not long after. Kaede clicked off the lights, allowed Maki and Shuichi to leave first, and closed the door behind them.

 

“Shinguuji should be in his dorm. If not, we can check the library.” Shuichi directed, and the trio proceeded toward the boys’ dorm halls. Kaede wanted to say she was focused, but couldn’t help sparing several quick glances in Maki’s direction. She briefly wondered if people came up to her while she was disguised. She was just as attractive as a human, after all. If she saw Maki around campus, Kaede could definitely see herself-

 

...Internally shutting up about silly things like how pretty the demon was. She really had to keep her priorities straight, as difficult as that was being such an eccentric mess of a lesbian. 


End file.
